Category Archives: Movies

Well, I never felt this bad before. The news of at least 12 people killed and dozens wounded in a wanton shooting at a midnight cinema showing of The Dark Night Rises in America left me deeply saddened.

I’m closely following the last Chris Nolan film in Batman series and I think I’m connected sentimentally to those in America and elsewhere who’re keenly waiting for the movie to release. There is always a feeling of fraternity among the people with shared interest. I’m a bit disappointed that I couldn’t make it to the theatre today ( but I’ll soon) but I think the fact that a lot of people who loved Nolan’s Batman franchise turned up to the cinemas really made up for it.

My heart goes out to the families of the victims of this terrible tragedy who lost their lives at the hands of a crazy gunman. Their long-held excitement to see The Dark Night Rises tragically shattered. It was really a ‘Dark Night’ for those innocent lives.

Condolences to those deceased people. May their souls rest in eternal peace.

Well, animated movies evoke more emotion on me than do live-action ones. And, animal characters appeal me more than do anthropoid ones. Actually I seldom feel ‘immersed’ into live action films.

I’m not that much of a moviegoer. I seldom go cinemas but of course see select ones at home. And among the hundreds of films I’ve watched, I don’t forget a scene from a movie that, in a very rare moment of intense emotion, made me all tearful.

Yes, the scene is from one of the most successful films of all time: The Lion King (1994) and I think it’s the saddest movie scene ever I watched.

In the scene, broken Simba, a lion cub and protagonist of the film, lumbers around his father Mufasa, who has just been killed in a wildebeest stampede triggered by the villain Scar, and then snuggles up to his dead parent in a very sad, agonizing tone. Even the hardest, cruelest of hearts can’t defy this scene.

Like all those Apes fans, I also was left scratching my head over the oracular ending of Tim Burton’s 2001 reboot of Planet of the Apes. Yes, for a long time until I finally hunted down the coherent solution thanks to Epinions.com.

Here goes the most relevant, logical explanation so far:

First a note on time travel. You must just accept the fact that the radioactive tome storm is a crazy time travel zone which spits people out into any random time depending on the needs of the screenwriter.

Here is the sequence of events as they actually happened in real time: 1) Pericles the ape heads into radioactive storm and gets stuck.

2) Davidson (Marky Mark) follows him into the storm and gets stuck.

3) The research ship follows Davidson into the storm as well.

4) The research ship emerges from the storm circa. 100 AD and crash lands on a deserted planet that is NOT Earth. (One can tell that it is not earth by the surrounding planets one sees when Davidson’s ship approaches it.)

5) The apes on the research ship were genetically altered (mentioned in an opening scene) so they are better equipped for survival on the deserted planet. Led by Semos (one of the research monkeys) the apes lead a revolt against the human space people and escape.

6) 2000 years later, the research apes have evolved and now rule the planet and use the descendants of the original humans as slaves. They also regard Semos as a god-like savior figure who will someday return to the planet to free them all.

7) At about this time, Davidson’s ship finally emerges from the radioactive time storm and he lands on the planet.

8) Here is where the main body of the film takes place.

9) Near the end of the film, Pericles finally emerges from the radioactive time storm.

10) The apes assume that Pericles is actually Semos so they all bow down and start to worship him.

11) General Thade, however decides to try and kill Davidson and Pericles, but instead gets captured by Davidson.

12) Davidson takes off away from the planet and enters the radioactive storm where he again gets stuck.

13) While Davidson is stuck in the storm, general Thade learns all about space travel by studying the crashed mothership AND the crashed space pod. He decides to take off from the planet and go after Davidson.

14) General Thade enters the time storm and emerges before Davidson does.

15) Thade arrives on Earth where he organizes a revolt against the humans. The Apes soon become masters of Earth. In honor of their general, they change the Abe Lincoln memorial to honor General Thade (the inscription on the memorial reads something like "in honor of General Thade who liberated the planet for the Apes")

16) FINALLY Davidson emerges from the time storm and lands on Earth only to find that Apes are now in control of the planet.

Yes, they’re ‘’lousy human bastards’’ as you yelled at the brutality of humans on animals. Zira, Cornelious and Dr. Zias were so true to say that humans know nothing but malevolence and destruction.

‘’Lousy human bastards’’. Caesar (simian protagonist from the Planet of the Apes franchise) lets his repressed feeling burst out with this infamous phrase. Yes, and it’s been reverberating in my mind since. Caesar, you’re not just a mute character of French novelist Pierre Boulle’s infamous opus Planet of the Apes but a true revolutionary that revolts, reminds the humans what’s love, compassion and brotherhood and also foretells the future destruction of human race.

I’m already becoming more of a misanthropic and Caesar, you stand as a hero for me!

Well, for many times. You can’t exactly remember for how many times. Can you? If not for many, then certainly for several times. Right?

Okay, you might have at least gotten your eyes wet for a few times in the dark halls of the theatres.

Most people get abstracted once they recline on the couch in front of the ‘silver screen’ for some one and half or more hours. That is, they submit themselves to what is being shown and this leads them to being abstracted, lost in the pictures on the screen. May be this is an intrinsic quality of a good cinemagoer, but the thing is, most of them forget to pay attention to how well the actors are doing their jobs, mood and the atmosphere and so on.

Prince Harry thinks I don’t and can’t enjoy a movie if I don’t change my way of perceiving movies and other theatrical shows. May be he’s true. Really, instead of getting ‘drowned’ in the theatrical portrayals either of melodramatic, farcical, adventurous or action-packed, I rather set out to focus on the characters such as how well they are playing their parts, whether their act is good enough (to enjoy on), how is their overall performance etc. etc. I try noticing the every minute details that are presented on the screen: from the overall performance of characters to the every bit of the mood and atmosphere. May be this is normal and no different from other cinemagoers’ general view. But what makes me distinct is while judging overall performance chiefly of the characters, I all but forget to relish the cinematic experience.

It’s not that I can’t discern the aesthetic appeal of things. And it’s also not that I’ve quite a discerning attitude of things.

And, he thinks my attitude to movies is almost that of a critic…

But critics love and enjoy the movies! And, one needs to get ‘lost’ into a movie and relish to judge it, doesn’t he?

I born in early ’80s and the only thing I graphically remember about movie thing is I had gone with my bro and a senior neighbour to cinema for a Hindi movie. Cinemas were arguably the only means of cinematic enjoyment at that time as TVs were rare and had not yet become a household essential. I’ve already written about my ecstasy when my father first brought a ‘wonder’ i.e. a 1970’s National radio-cassette recorder. It was in late ’80s.

Hollywood saw burly and brawny men rule the silver screen most notably in ’80s. ”Rocky”, ”Rambo”, ”Terminator” ”McClane” ”Drago” etc. were some highly admired terms from that era. But, I was only a kid, way too innocent, to understand all those.

I saw those characters in their prime only long after, in late 90s. I, then, experienced somewhat of that era.

But, watching ‘The Expendables‘ (R5 Rip) was more an experience than just reminiscent of that action era. All those big action heroes of ’80s playing in a single movie, it was actually a rare work in movie history and we’re LUCKY to get all of them into a whole (yes, The Expendables).

Action scenes were rather bland and easy but original. Less use of CGI, but its use in aerial attack by Sly and Jason Statham against the troops of fictional island Vilena looks cheap.

I, however, was a little disappointed as I actually had expected more intense battles and action scenes from the legions of action icons Stallon, Statham, Lundgren and others. Perhaps, because

I’m so much used to big budgeted Michael Bay films and not yet done with ‘marvellous’ CGI things. The Expendables, however, is good at least in giving authentic action cinematic experience, with less or almost no CGI. It actually take you back to ’80s. It was the only summer movie of 2010 I was as excited to see as I was for Transformers 2: ROTF last year.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time was a total waste. Saw the so called ‘big summer release’ today but it turned out a waste. I wonder, Mike Newell must have splurged out that 150 million dollars on something else
rather than movie. Or else, a good swashbuckling movie could have been
made with that huge sum. It’s one of the worst movies I’ve seen in a while. Such a
waste.

Ben Kingsley was the only actor who seemed a little bad among the worsts.

Salt
was better. I enjoyed it. Of course, Jolie’s a talisman of this movie,
so the film (thanks to her) can keep audiences glued to their seats.

Pakistan
is worst hit by the flood. Millions of people are rendered homeless.
What could I do to help assuage their ordeal? Nothing. But, I
can be empathetic to them. And, I know I’m being. I can feel the predicaments
descended upon them.

Corruption-marred Pakistani government has
proven incompetent. Pakistan needs no substantial foreign aid if the
corruption could be contained, for rescue and relief efforts. Taliban
and other militants have proven more agile and effective than
government in this regard.